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Lauren Holiday
Lauren Nicole Holiday (born September 30, 1987), née Lauren Nicole Cheney, is an American professionalsoccer midfielder and forward. She currently plays for FC Kansas City in the National Women's Soccer League and the United States women's national soccer team. Holiday is a two-time Olympic gold medalist winning gold with the national team at the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics and the 2012 London Summer Olympics. She previously played for the Boston Breakers in the WPS and collegiate soccer for the UCLA Bruins. Early life Born in Indianapolis, Indiana to Rita and George Cheney, Lauren began playing soccer as a youth after watching her brother play the sport. She played on boys' teams until age 12.[1][2] She attended Ben Davis High School in Indianapolis where she was named the school's most valuable offensive player in 2004–05. In 2004, she was named Metro Player of the Year by the Indianapolis Star.[3] In 2006, she was named Parade All-American and wasGatorade Player of the Year in addition to receiving numerous regional awards including first-team All-Conference, All-County and All-State, and Indianapolis Star Super Team Player of the Year. She earned Indiana All-State selection honors each year of her high school career and was named NSCAA All-American three times. Holiday finished her high school career having scored 118 goals and served 67 assists.[4] She graduated mid-year in 2006 to train full-time with the United States U-20 women's national soccer team for the FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup.[5] UCLA Bruins In the fall of 2006, Holiday enrolled at UCLA, where she was named a first-team All-American and NSCAA Freshman of the Year.[6][7] She led the Pac-10 Conference with 19 goals, which also set a new UCLA freshman record with a goals-per-game percentage of .95.[8][9] As a sophomore in 2007, she was the runner-up for the women's Hermann Trophy and the Pac-10 Player of the Year. She led the conference again in goals scored with 23 and broke the UCLA single-season school records for points (57) and goals (23).[10] Holiday became the first player in UCLA history to earn NSCAA/adidas First-Team All-America honors all four years of her career. At UCLA, she set new school records for points (173) and game-winning goals (28); and tied the career school record in goals with 71. She had 31 career assists, second place in the record book. During her four years, the Bruins played in consecutive NCAA College Cup.[10][11] Playing career Club Pali Blues, 2009 During the summer of 2009, Holiday joined Southern California team, Pali Blues, in the W-League.[12] Throughout the entire regular season, the Blues did not lose a match and finished first in the Western Conference with a 9–0–3 record.[13] After defeating the Hudson Valley Quickstrike Lady Blues 4–0 in the championship semi-final in which Holiday scored a goal in the 65th minute,[14] the Pali Blues clinched the championship title in a 2–1 defeat of the Washington Freedom Reserves on August 7, 2009.[15] Boston Breakers, 2010–11 Holiday playing in the rain against Saint Louis Athletica. On January 15, 2010, Holiday was selected by the Boston Breakers as the second overall pick in the WPS Draft. She played in 23 games for Boston during the 2010 season, starting in 21 matches and scoring five goals with two assists. She helped Boston to a playoff berth and scored her team's lone goal in the playoff match. She was named as a starter in the WPS All-Star Game.[citation needed] On August 14, 2011, she scored two goals against Sky Blue FC to take her team to the 2011 WPS playoffs.[citation needed] FC Kansas City, 2013–present In 2013, Holiday was one of three national team players along with Becky Sauerbrunn and Nicole Barnhart to be allocated to FC Kansas City for the inaugural season of the National Women's Soccer League as part of the NWSL Player Allocation.[16] In June 2013, she was named NWSL Player of the Month after scoring six times in five games and becoming the league's leading scorer with eight goals.[17] FC Kansas City finished second during the regular season with an 11–6–5 record.[18] The team advanced to the playoffs but were defeated 2–3 by Portland Thorns FCduring the semi-finals. Following the 2013 NWSL season, Holiday was awarded the Golden Boot, an award given to the player who scores the most goals (12) and was named the league's Most Valuable Player (MVP).[19] In 2014 NWSL season, FC Kansas City finished the regular season in second place; with Holiday providing a team leading 7 assists, and finished second in goals scored with 8 behind Amy Rodriguez's 13. In the post-season playoffs, Holiday scored the second goal in a 2-0 victory over the Portland Thorns FC in the semi final, and provided both the assists for Rodriguez's two goals, as they beat Seattle Reign FC 2-1 in the 2014 Championship game, to clinch the club's first NWSL title. Holiday was voted the match's MVP. [20] Holiday is the leading goal scorer (20) and assist leader (12) all-time in the NWSL. International career San Jose, Calif., 2015 Holiday made her first appearance and start for the senior U.S. women's team on January 26, 2007, againstGermany.[11] She earned her second cap and scored her first goals, against Mexico on April 14, 2007.[11] She was named the 2007 U.S. Soccer Young Female Athlete of the Year. She was named to the U.S. roster for the 2008 Summer Olympics after Abby Wambach was forced to withdraw from the Olympics with a broken leg.[21] She appeared in three games as a substitute. In 2010, she was the second-leading scorer on the team with seven goals in 13 total matches, starting seven.[11] She scored the opening goal for the U.S. team in the 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup, against North Korea on June 28, 2011. Holiday started in all six World Cup games, scoring two goals and leading the team with three assists to earn a spot on the Women's World Cup All-Star Team.[11] In 2012, Holiday led the United States team with seven assists in five games at CONCACAF Olympic Qualifying in Vancouver, including four assists during the USA's 14–0 rout of the Dominican Republic. She played in all six games at the Olympics, starting five, and came off the bench in the gold medal game to play the final 23 minutes after she had suffered a minor injury in the semifinal.[11] Career statistics International summary Updated through 2014-12-30[22][23] International goals Honors and awards International *Olympic Gold Medal: 2008, 2012 *FIFA Women's World Cup Runner-up: 2011 *Algarve Cup: 2008, 2010, 2011, 2013 *Four Nations Tournament: 2007, 2008, 2011 Individual *WPS All-Star: 2010[24] *NWSL Best XI: 2013, 2014 *NWSL Most Valuable Player: 2013 *NWSL Golden Boot: 2013 *NWSL Championship Game MVP: 2014 *U.S. Soccer Young Female Athlete of the Year: 2007 *NCAA All-American First-Team: 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009 *Pac-10 Conference Player of the Year: 2007 *U.S. Soccer Female Athlete of the Year: 2014 Team ;with FC Kansas City *NWSL championship: 2014[25] Personal life At the age of three, Holiday had open heart surgery to correct a heart defect.[26] She married professional basketball player Jrue Holiday, fellow UCLA Bruin and point guard for the New Orleans Pelicans, on July 7, 2013.[27] The two first met and began dating in 2008 while they were both attending UCLA. Holiday is a Christian.[28] Endorsements Holiday has signed endorsement deals with Under Armour and Chobani. Category:1987 births